Caphelia's Project

4

BENJAMIN

I'm winning hands down against Chris. An hour has passed since we arrived. Ulani and Jia are chatting on a sofa not far from us.

Chris throws the joystick on the couch and shouts:

"That is enough. Jia! I'm using the hot tub."

By now he doesn't even ask permission, the girl shrugs, and so Chris runs cheerfully to the glass door behind us. Beyond the glass there's a small spa. He was about to get in, when Sebastian and Adele come down the stairs.

"Well, hello there! What have you little perverts been up to?" Chris chuckles and the response from Sebastian is a light slap on Chris' neck.

"Chris, I'm coming too." I say as I rest my hands on the couch to stand up.

"Great! You guys leave us girls alone, so we can talk for a while. Right girls?" Adele shouts in a shrill voice and the girls nod.

"You know I love you Adele!" Chris shouts as he grabs her head leaving a kiss on her forehead. "So I can hot tub naked! What a dream!"

He rushes through the door before anyone can say anything about it. Sebastian and I are right behind him, and as I'm about to cross the threshold, I hear a sound of disgust coming from Adele's lips.

The relationship between Adele and Sebastian is unconventional. They are not together and I think they never will be. They both date other people but occasionally they get together. I am certain that Sebastian cannot stand her and he spends time with her out of boredom. It is normal to have a couple in a group as ours. We are three boys and three girls with a strong tie forced since childhood by our families. We are aware of the rumors spreading about us.

For example, there were speculations on some kind of contacts signed by our parents for at arranged marriages. None of our families ever denied this rumor. Our parents are obsessed with their society and our duty to keep it going, so I would not be surprised if one day it turns out that one of the girls is my fiancé. I suspect that contract or no contract, our families want to couple us. My mother constantly bugs me with this matter.

"Jia is a sweet girl, you would be great together," or "Ulani is so nice, it would be a dream to have her as a daughter-in-law."

We have been soaking in the tub for about ten minutes and we are having a normal conversation when Chris brings up the "Sophie" topic again. I know my friend and I know he didn't do it to get me and Sebastian to fight, he's just too naïve.

"Hey, what if I hit on Sophie? I think she would like me."

"Sure Chris." I say sarcastically.

"You're not doing a great job, you'll see she will have so much fun with me and I'll have her wearing the bracelet in minutes."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Sebastian says with a calm tone.

For people that don't know him, it could look like he cares about this girl and he's trying to hide it. Although through my eyes, that have observed him since he was born, my theory is the following: he doesn't really care about this girl, but he cares about being different from the rest of us. He wants to go against our parents and do the exact opposite of what our they ask. At the same time, he would like to prove at any cost that he is able to make any girl fall in love with a snap of his fingers. He is eager to defeat me and he is at a crossroads.

"You two always underestimate me."

Chris bears a grudge.

"Chris, your problem is that she would notice right away that you are hiding something. You are not good at keeping secrets."